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Uncontrollably Fond: Episode 9 Recap

What a fun episode! I am getting even more addicted to this drama now. There are moments of frustration where I wanted to yell at the characters and say, “SPEAK! JUST TELL THE TRUTH!” But there was plenty of cute as well – including an adorable kitten! (Edit: Now with pictures! -kae)

Thoughts of Joon Young’s numerous confessions and displays of affection run through No Eul’s mind, enough to make her actually think that he’s being serious. It’s why she finally calls Joon Young and tells him that she’ll trust him this once, and why he rushes out to Han River to meet her. And then he struggles to even see her in order to reach her. But once he gets to her, he asks for just a minute to hold her until his vision clears up.

Ji Tae finally arrives at the restaurant to give Bong Sook a million won. He wants Bong Sook to take it as payment for every future meal No Eul has at the restaurant because he’s never coming back, and he’s never going to see No Eul again. He then heads to a cooking school, where Jung Eun is preparing an appetizer of sorts; guess she’s a culinary student? She’s surprised to see him there so late, and he rushes over and forcefully kisses her. Jung Eun kisses back with gusto, and Ji Tae has to force himself to try and believe that he enjoys this because this is going to be his future.

As for the parents’ generation – Hyun Joon falls asleep by his wife’s bedside, much to her happiness, while Young Ok lies down in her son’s bedroom, clearly missing him.

Finally, after more than one minute of holding her, Joon Young opens his eyes and sees that the double vision has dissipated. He finally lets No Eul go, and, grinning like a fool, asks what she was going to tell him. No Eul clarifies that when she meant that she’ll trust him, she didn’t mean she’ll trust him wholly. Rather, she meant that she’d trust him as the source of her income. No Eul’s not going to let him think that Joon Young’s won her over just yet! But Joon Young is just so happy even for this. She asks why he’s grinning so much and he replies that it’s because she’s so pretty. It’s enough to make No Eul roll her eyes and leave first. D’awwww…

Fast forward to another day and No Eul heads to the beach where Joon Young and Yoo Na are filming another scene for their movie. After all, she’s still got the documentary to shoot. A lot of reporters have gathered wanting an interview with the new celebrity couple, ruining the atmosphere on set. On top of that, some drone controllers don’t know how to operate a drone well enough that they get it in the shot and then accidentally divert it towards No Eul’s head. Joon Young sees this but can’t hurry over to her to check on how she’s doing.

Finally after the shoot, the reporters and the stars gather in a small cafe by the beach to hold a press conference. Yoo Na gracefully speaks up first and says that they will try to grow their beautiful love. When pressed for a statement, all Joon Young can say is that he wishes the reporters would leave his life alone because he’s a human first and has a right to privacy. He threatens to leave the industry if people keep prying into his love life, and then walks out of the cafe. A reporter then stands up and turns to No Eul with a question: “Isn’t Kim Yoo Na the real ‘shield’ in this relationship? Isn’t it true that Joon Young got his agency to protect you?” No Eul denies that Yoo Na is the shield, and claims that she’s not interested in Joon Young anyways. She likes the actor Seo Yoon Hoo instead!

That makes the news and next thing she knows all the headlines are of her rejecting Joon Young, again. How embarrassing, again! Joon Young sneaks into her car and even says, “Really? Seo Yoon Hoo?” No Eul yells at him to get out of her car as they’ll get caught like this! But he wants to know first: who is her ideal man? Because if he’s not her ideal man, then he’d like to change to become it! Finally she gets him to leave by calling Gook Young (who’s go the worst record in keeping track of his star), and finds a small case of sausage rolls left behind – because Joon Young knows it’s her favorite snack.

Meanwhile, Ji Tae is looking at some diamond rings – but not for Jung Eun. Instead he’s planning to buy it as a gift for his mother for getting out of the hospital. He gets a call from someone and learns that Eun Soo is currently at a fancy Japanese restaurant with her brother-in-law (Kim Byung Ok), who’s the ne’er-do-well sibling to Hyun Joon. He is always looking for money because he’s pretty much blackmailing Eun Soo over the knowledge of Young Ok and Joon Young. He was the one who got rid of Young Ok back in the day, even though he liked her a lot, because Eun Soo made him do it. He knows that Ji Tae is not Hyun Joon’s son as well (surprise, surprise). The question is – does Hyun Joon know about Ji Tae’s parentage?

Well there’s one person who knows it all: Ji Tae. He arrives at the restaurant in time to overhear his mother ordering her secretary to deposit more money in the brother-in-law’s account and forbids it. Even Eun Soo is surprised that he knows everything about Joon Young, but she’s not ready to tell Hyun Joon the truth yet. She believes he’ll leave her just like how Ji Tae’s father left her for another woman he loved. Guess Eun Soo really just isn’t lovable.

She wants three months before she can tell Hyun Joon the truth, and Ji Tae asks why. That’s when she accidentally spills that Joon Young is dying. Now Ji Tae really knows everything. He, too, fears that Hyun Joon would go to Joon Young and Young Ok, but he also wants to believe that Hyun Joon loves him as a true son as well. To reassure himself of that fact, he calls up Hyun Joon to say that he loves him, and that they should grab drinks after work.

No Eul sets up another shoot with Joon Young by the beach to try and get some more interviews for the documentary. She asks if he’s added anything else to his bucket list. Joon Young: “Yeah, I want the girl that I like to tell me I’m her type.” Hah! “I [also] want the girl in front of me to tell me she likes me.” No Eul gets frustrated, and he asks if she didn’t wash her hair yet. “Yes I did!” she refutes furiously, and then Joon Young twists it, “Ah so you do like me so you washed your hair for me.” Before he can torment her further, he has to go to do a photo shoot with Yoo Na for the film. Left behind in his seat again is a case of the sausage rolls.

During the photo shoot, Yoo Na asks what it is that Joon Young sees in No Eul. She feels offended that he’d pick a lowly PD over her. Joon Young reminds her that she got herself in this situation by going along with CEO Namgoong’s schemes, and he didn’t ask for her help. But – he is thankful for her protecting No Eul. It’s enough to make Yoo Na annoyed and she asks for a break from the shoot. As she stomps off in the sand, she trips on the light’s power cord, and it starts falling on Joon Young…

No Eul heads back to Seoul, frustrated with the day’s useless shoot, but is stopped from getting anywhere by Gook Young. He desperately needs her help – Joon Young’s been seriously injured and has gone to the hospital! He can’t go because he needs to take care of some things on set, so he begs No Eul to go in his stead with another manager’s younger sibling, who’s driving the van.

No Eul quickly gets into the van; as much as she pretends to not like him, she’s very worried about Joon Young. When the driver, who’s completely covered up in a cap, sunglasses, and face mask, suggests a pit stop to get coffee, she furiously tries to kick him out of the driver’s seat. She’s in a rush, as she has to tell Joon Young something now! The driver steps out and removes his cap (revealing a bandage on the forehead) and shades: “What was it you wanted to tell me?” Kekekeke – what a childish prank. When No Eul realizes that it’s Joon Young the entire time she kicks him in the shins and walks off on her own.

Joon Young teases her over her feelings for him, and she trips on a rock and falls. He rushes to her side to check her ankle, pulling off the face mask. No Eul is stunned to see that he has a scrape on his cheek and a cut lip, with some bruising forming. He laments over wanting a date with No Eul at a coffee shop before actually going to the hospital to get himself checked out, and suddenly No Eul gives him a peck on the lips. “You are my type, happy now?” she says, with tears forming in her eyes. “I like you a lot, okay? You’re hurt, and yet you want to go on a coffee date…”

And Joon Young swoops in for a kiss. And thankfully, No Eul kisses him back!

Some time passes and it’s the day of the K-Festival, where K-pop stars are going to be honored by the Ministry of Culture. Haru calls up her father begging him to take her, as he’s an assemblyman invited to this festival. She then sees No Jik on the road and stops the car – he’s a high school student?! Haru is angry that he tricked her, but technically she never asked so he didn’t. He asks if she has some money though to buy some cat food for a stray kitten that he found. AND THE KITTY IS SO CUTE! No Jik asks her to take care of the cat for him while he goes to school, but she’s all, “Why should I?” And he looks at her seriously and says, “Because people who are pretty are also kind.”

Did No Jik get some personality transplant? Last I saw them together, he was pretty annoyed with her and hated her. Suddenly he’s being really charming – almost flirting – towards her?!

Gook Young rushes early in the morning to Young Ok’s restaurant with urgent news: Joon Young is in the hospital and she really needs to see him! He’s dying! Though a bit skeptical, Young Ok is going to go to where Joon Young is because she still worries about him. Except… Gook Young drives her to a really upscale clothing store. This isn’t the hospital… He makes the excuse that it was so urgent a doctor was called to the scene, so Young Ok goes into the store – only to find her son standing up and healthy, without a scar on his face, shopping for her clothing. His mom is going to receive an award at K-Festival for raising a huge Hallyu star.

Young Ok wants nothing to do with this. Just because she put up with his introduction to No Eul doesn’t mean that all is well between them. But Joon Young adds that many government officials will be there – including Choi Hyun Joon. And with that, he buys her a whole rack of clothes. Young Ok doesn’t know what to do though. As much as she’d like to see Hyun Joon again, she doesn’t seem to have the courage to face him yet. (Jung Sik on the other hand is super excited to be invited to the event and wearing a tux.)

No Eul works hard at the editing suite trying to cut in some footage of Joon Young from his CCTV cameras. She can’t figure out what he’s saying to the cameras though as the audio isn’t working. The director of the documentary bursts in and asks why she isn’t at the K-Festival. She needs to get footage for the documentary! No Eul thought that she didn’t have to go, but now must grudgingly head over. She hasn’t even showered in couple days, so she settles for rinsing her bangs in the restroom sinks and putting on a fresh coat of lipstick.

No Jik then call her up wondering where she is. Apparently it’s her father’s death anniversary and she forgot. Nari and No Jik assure her that they’ll take care of the memorial, but that she should pay her respects when she gets a chance. No Eul is stricken with guilt: while she was busy making herself presentable for Joon Young, she completely forgot about her father. Meanwhile No Jik wonders whether Hyun Woo/Ji Tae is showing up, as he always came every year. Unfortunately the number to Hyun Woo has been disconnected. They don’t realize that Ji Tae did show up at the front door with a huge bottle of wine, but doesn’t have the courage to ring the doorbell. So Ji Tae leaves the wine on the doorstep instead and heads out.

As for Haru, she manages to go to the K-Festival with her parents. She and Hyun Joon lie about why she’s going to the festival (it’s totally not for Shin Joon Young!) just so Eun Soo wouldn’t send her daughter back home. But Eun Soo has greater worries – like Hyun Joon meeting Shin Joon Young and Young Ok again at this event. When they arrive, Eun Soo tries to send her daughter back home, but the little kitten that she brought escapes from Haru’s clutches. Why bring a kitten to this event?! In any case, chasing after the kitty leads Haru to No Eul…

No Eul’s prepared a meager offering to her father in a private area behind the event. It’s just soju and shrimp chips, and the little kitten knocks over the bottle and starts munching on it. Kyaaaa! No Eul lightly knocks the kitten’s head for its bad behavior, and Haru, seeing this, immediately rails against No Eul for being so mean to a kitty. She doesn’t realize what No Eul is doing but gives her 5000 won to replace the food that the kitten destroyed. Um – that’s not the point. No Eul knocks Haru’s head for being disrespectful and not apologizing, and that’s when Hyun Joon arrives.

No Eul is stunned into silence. She hasn’t seen Hyun Joon in years, and this is how she’s meeting him again. Haru takes advantage of her silence and claims that No Eul hit her for no reason. UGH. SPOILED BRAT. Hyun Joon does ask, reasonably, if that’s what happened. All No Eul can say is, “Do you remember me?” Hyun Joon is surprised as he doesn’t remember her at all, and Haru just identifies her as the “national gold digger.” No Eul then points out that today is her father’s death anniversary, and then Hyun Joon understands that she was trying to make an offering to her father. He gives her 50,000 won for her trouble.

Haru exclaims that it’s too much but he shushes her, as it is rude to give so little just because the food is cheap. No Eul doesn’t take it, so he adds another 50,000 won.

“Why don’t you apologize first?” Everyone turns around to see Joon Young striding up to them. He stands next to No Eul, grabs the bills, crumples it up, and throws it to the ground. Haru’s jaw drops at seeing her idol up close while Hyun Joon’s eyebrows knit together. Father and son, face to face. Oh man, things are happening!

Some Thoughts

It’s no wonder how Haru learned her bad habits. Hyun Joon means well in giving No Eul money but I expected him to set a better example of apologizing first, and then offering money. It’s so rude and wrong to give compensation instead of apologizing first. She also has a horrible example set by her mother, whom we learn is just as possessive as she is. The fact that Eun Soo would obsess over Hyun Joon and do anything she can to make him hers is similar to how Haru views Joon Young. And, Eun Soo tries to resolve things with money too by bribing her brother-in-law! This family… In any case, Haru is one of those characters I could do seeing less of, especially since she seems to be forming a love line with No Jik. (Eck.)

Okay let’s talk about the ending. Oh my God. This drama is really becoming like crack for me. I am so excited by it now. Even though things are progressing as they should, it is being executed masterfully and so simplistically. I will say that the twist involving Ji Tae’s father is a bit late. It clarifies a lot of things regarding who came first (Joon Young or Ji Tae), why Ji Tae is so insecure about his position with his father, and why he hates Joon Young so much. In some ways I expected it earlier because it’s just that kind of plot point that normally is established early on. On the other hand I couldn’t find a better time for it to be revealed along with how Eun Soo managed to steal Hyun Joon from Young Ok.

The hour goes by quickly when I watch this and I loved the many moments of light-heartedness between Joon Young and No Eul. His smiles are so big and toothy that it makes Joon Young that much more lovable. I am glad we had some fun today, because I’m pretty sure it’s gonna go away by episode 10.